RachaelJS
Caitlin JohnstoneThe primary complaints about Gen Z ultimately boil down to "They refuse to work shitty jobs for shit pay" and "They're too nice to people who are different". Which says just as much about the quality of the older generations as the quality of the new one.
I'm always yammering on here about what it's going to take to turn this human catastrophe around, but sometimes I think it might turn out that all that needs to happen is for all us old assholes to get the fuck out of the way and leave the world in better hands than our own.
Yeah, that's right, keep lining up to prove me right you salty old fucks.
Caitlin Johnstone on Twitter
“Well you know kids these days they're so entitled . They'll quit a job just because they don't like it, or because it doesn't pay enough, or because they're not grateful for the privilege of turning a gear for a silver dollar and an attaboy sammy. https://t.co/ZeDINssVjS”
Daniel Andrlik
Rand Fishkin@Caitoz this is the best Mastoblast in the series
neatchee@Caitoz The internet has created a global society and exposed millions of young people to the reality that almost everyone just wants to live their life in peace and kindness.
First generation to truly understand the commonalities of humanity and grow in an environment where respecting that is necessary for social acceptance.
We seriously do need to just gtfo of their way
Charles ☭ is now tooting from queer.partyI heard this very often in the late 80s and early 90s. My generation was going to solve both racism and climate change, while the boomers and older who agreed with these goals got out of the way and those who disagreed wielded considerable power and wealth to fight - and win. And, indeed, Gen Xers hardly became a unified force against racism or for the climate.
I'm extremely suspicious of generational analysis as it elides class.
Lyle Solla-Yates
Firehorseart Lives!Gen X was told that we had to go it alone, become a superwoman/rman. Gen Z seems to have realised that a greater strength lies in communities and worldwide cooperation.
I hope Gen Z continues to be visionary, as an 'every man for himself & get rich quick' attitude weakened Gen X.
Unions have their flaws but they also have stronger bargaining power than individuals. We could do with that strength again.
Katma@srfirehorseart @celesteh @Caitoz
Building on this, my memory was that we Gen Xers were told we were lazy, apathetic whiners *and* that we had to fix everything because the boomers were busy or tired or whatever
I see similar garbage directed at Gen Z and it’s infuriating. Obviously people have different experiences and knowledge based on when they grew up, but I think the amazing p, inspiring people have a huge amount in common across gens
Yes, I tend to agree.
Gen X were told they'd never had it so good, by their post-war parents. Whilst this was true in some respects, it was also used to dismiss Gen X's considerable achievements, as they were pushed to work harder and faster and yet still told that they hadn't done enough!
Gen X is a model for burnout.
@Caitoz @celesteh @srfirehorseart
Yes! And then every seven years there was a (usually) avoidable economic collapse and #GenX would get to start all over financially and sometimes having to figure out how to switch careers.
I honestly don’t even know how #GenZ manages the economic mess of today. I wish we wouldn’t get tricked into this generational conflict model
Eryn with a Y@KatMA @Caitoz @celesteh @srfirehorseart This! I'm a young gen X/elder millennial and it seemed like everytime I started to figure things out some global catastrophe or economic collapse would snatch it all away and I'd have to start over.
@ekelseya @KatMA @Caitoz @celesteh
Sympathies. A lot of my best gains over the years were about being in the right place at the right time.
The last 4 years, including the pandemic, really knocked my confidence about replicating that success. My experience tells me I mainly need to get back into the right head space again.
Top tip: read The Luck Factor - it has some good advice about 'creating' luck in our lives.
@Caitoz @ekelseya @celesteh @srfirehorseart
It’s wrenching isn’t it? Millennials are on the same demoralizing hamster wheel as Gen X and Z
I don’t know what to think of boomers. Some were able to take advantage of affordable education & insane increases in their property values (if they could own) but less privileged ones are right there with the rest of us? The ones I know seem to be doing well, but don’t think it’s a representative sample
@KatMA @Caitoz @celesteh @srfirehorseart The human condition is complicated and the only solution is to eat the rich.
@ekelseya @KatMA @Caitoz @celesteh
The solution to the human condition, as I see it now, is to learn how to be happy on my own terms, in the present.
Money and material gains are only temporary solutions to material problems, but don't work as substitutes for good mental health. The rich are probably no happier than anyone else. They may be more miserable, as they have seen being £$¥ wealthy isn't the same as happiness.
@srfirehorseart @KatMA @Caitoz @celesteh I get what you're saying, but there is a huge difference between being unfulfilled because your billions don't bring happiness and having your lights turned off because you decided to feed your children rather than pay the power bill. A serious wealth tax would help stop that disparity and improve millions of lives.
And it could be argued that the mind set necessary to hoard that kind of wealth is not conducive to happiness in any form. Satisfaction maybe, but not happiness.
@ekelseya @celesteh @srfirehorseart @Caitoz
I totally agree. We can’t think or will ourselves to economic equality/justice. We can’t have a good attitude and suddenly those with power won’t be able to game the system for themselves. And economic justice is strongly, unbreakably connected to social justice.
Sometimes mental health depends on allowing ourselves to see what is really happening and having logical emotional reactions to it.
I totally agree. We can’t think or will ourselves to economic equality/justice. We can’t have a good attitude and suddenly those with power won’t be able to game the system for themselves. And economic justice is strongly, unbreakably connected to social justice.
Sometimes mental health depends on allowing ourselves to see what is really happening and having logical emotional reactions to it.
@ekelseya @KatMA @Caitoz @celesteh
Yes, I agree that any kind of hoarding (including money) is indicative of unhappiness.
I see the mind set for hoarding as being based on anxiety about the present, extrapolated into the future.
Any satisfaction is then going to be temporary. Future events are unpredictable, material things decay or lose their value, as Ozymandias warns in Shelly's poem.
Guaranteed basic support for all would prevent a lot of hoarding habits, IMO.
@ekelseya @Caitoz @srfirehorseart @celesteh
Yes. And start by taxing the hell out of them, which I think they’d probably hate more.
Yes. And start by taxing the hell out of them, which I think they’d probably hate more.
CoolBlenderKitten
Sören@celesteh @Caitoz I don’t know “solve racism” is an attainable goal as xenophobia may be too inherently tied to the human psyche.
But climate change? Yes, it was a difficult battle in the 1990s but it’s way harder now, and Gen X absolutely could be doing things like *not* be the ersatz boomers who drive an SUV and take their kid skiing (with artificially created snow, of course)
Kitsunegarcia@celesteh @Caitoz Keep in mind about Gen X, size wise compared to Boomers and Millenials, we are the smallest generation. With pervasive and easy to access birth control, there aren't many of us made in the first place. Our votes never mattered and we were gaslit into thinking we could make a difference. I hope the newer generations make the changes we weren't able to.
Isaac Freeman@Caitoz A lot depends on what getting-out-of-the-way looks like. If it means waiting for older generations to literally die off, we’re talking decades more of accelerating damage. Surveys tend to show that older Gen X have pretty much the same selfish worldview as Boomers.
To get through the next century, we’re going to need the older generations to either retire from power or adjust our attitudes.
To get through the next century, we’re going to need the older generations to either retire from power or adjust our attitudes.
RDS (shawphd on Twitter)@Caitoz @isaacfreeman I vote for adjusting our attitudes and working actively WITH GenZ to improve things instead of making them do all the work.
Cheesecakes as a Service 👨🏾⚡@Caitoz This presumes that one of the older ones won't keep living just to spite everyone else.
Sriram "sri" Ramkrishna - 😼@Caitoz I love the Gen Z generation - they are so much better than us. The first generation I think where they were completely in-line technology and value wise with their parents - the Boomers and the Millennials apparently were always at odds.
PJ "Vote Green" Coffey
prasoon@Caitoz
"Stepping aside" after doing major damages doesn't seem all that fair tbh. The older generation needs to be better seniors; they will continue to hold positions of power for a very long time, they have a responsibility to tell stories of their miserable failures in moments when it mattered. I will wait for GenZ/GenAlpha's ability to listen, learn from the mistakes of the past before I can say that the fruit has fallen far from the tree in these chaotic apocalyptic times 🤞
"Stepping aside" after doing major damages doesn't seem all that fair tbh. The older generation needs to be better seniors; they will continue to hold positions of power for a very long time, they have a responsibility to tell stories of their miserable failures in moments when it mattered. I will wait for GenZ/GenAlpha's ability to listen, learn from the mistakes of the past before I can say that the fruit has fallen far from the tree in these chaotic apocalyptic times 🤞
stray autistic cat@Caitoz Hard to say what will get people to wake up (of all generations, far too many of all ages still don't see the climate threat). But supporting Glenn "Tucker Carlson" Greenwald (and his right wing co-horts) as you do, isn't helping.
Henry Ngo@Caitoz I love Gen Z. I'm so excited to support what they will bring to the world as they move into more positions of power!
SmileyRach3 🇪🇺🐟🐻I understand what you are saying. We are a divided generation Some of us oldies are forward thinking and have encouraged Gen Z to learn from our mistakes and shape a different word.
Unfortunately but many of our generation resist change and try to recreate a world that has passed (and was probably never as good as they remember)
Dr M@Caitoz or “expect to be in a high paid awesome job with no experience or qualifications” and expect huge promotions too soon and leave if they dont get it in a sulk. this is more the reality i see. No concept of staying in a role long enough to actually show you can be good at it not just reach basic competence. Dont get me wrong, there are definitely some underpaid jobs for unskilled and inexperienced, but this is what this complaint means.
🧙♂️ Julian Invictus ☕@ivalaine that's a really great proof of concept that your generation is as incapable of listening as we portray you to be.
@Julian_Invictus or perhaps its your inability to communicate properly? If we have that perception its because thats the message you send with your actions.
@Julian_Invictus I was writing something about total lack of self-awareness. Then I thought. "No, I'm on Mastodon. I can like the good comment and just block the sea lion rather than try and argue with them."
authoredbyjames 🌲🏔🌊@Caitoz The irony of complaining about younger generations when most of us grew up being the generation bemoaned by our elders. The cycle never ends.
tracklayer@authoredbyjames @Caitoz Now in my seventies I never seem to wonder where there miserable old gits come from. A generation who never had it so good determined to keep it that way. Dim enough not to realise they were paying their parents pensions and despising the generation who are paying theirs. Eh lad we poor. Bullshit. That was your parents. You never fought in the war. You have lived a fantasy. Time to realise your indolence has come home to roost.
C. Lambeth
Justin@corbin_lambeth @Caitoz Damn it's like nobody wants to work anymore! Humans shouldn't be slaves to jobs. Capitalism sucks.
@corbin_lambeth @Caitoz Politicians are pretty close!
Paulina 
hannahshouse2 🇺🇸 California@Caitoz My small contribution to the fight was as a manager I develop skills assessments trainings encouraged industry specific education and brought my young team members up to positions of better pay as quickly as possible. I have a bias for folks without college degrees and single moms and worked with them to overcome the perceived lack of experience they have to fight against. I still mentor my former employees. I was a single mom without a degree and fought my way up to vice president.
@Caitoz It really shouldn't be that hard.
KillerBean ☕@Caitoz well said. I guess I'm Gen X and I have enjoyed working with the Gen Z co-workers I have. They're entrepreneurial, resourceful, and generally good hearted. I can't wait to vote for them for office
whyJoe@Caitoz I love the energy Gen Z is bringing to face capitalist bullshit.
(I don't want to hear about their Saturn return, or about how they discovered zigzag parts, and I wish they could understand self-deprecating humor, and they're actually bigger on body-shaming and objectifying people's looks than you'd think...)
But everything else... Love! I mean it sure wasn't the boomer that held my workplace accountable for BS last week. It was a Gen Z.
Ursa Borealis@Caitoz
Big fan of the Zs.
Big fan of the Zs.
Iris Richardson Fine Art 🇩🇪🇺🇸📷@Caitoz Yes, I find the inclusiveness refreshing. More love less hate. Who can argue about that? Kudos to GenZ to take control of their future.
@Caitoz Gen Z will save us all as soon as they realize they will actually outlive the Boomers and the world isn't coming to an end quite as soon as they've been lead to believe it will.
The Doctor@Caitoz Can I quote you on that?
Ivan Sagalaev 
@Caitoz to be fair, most of the "older generation" is probably quiet and agrees with all this. You may be overreacting to the loud ones :-)
John Howes@Caitoz They also use "like" as a universal conjunction. Something which makes a generation X ears bleed.
@Caitoz @johnhowesauthor You must have not grown up with Valley Girls, then.
r-hold@Caitoz i would add "they refuse to (blindly) follow authorites"
Joe Steinbring 
@Caitoz I had to talk down an older friend over dinner at a Mexican restaurant who was complaining that "the younger generation feels too entitled to work as a waiter" (tipped minimum wage here in Wisconsin is $2.34/hr).
SometimesIGetBored@Caitoz welcome to Mastodon